Ghost Dad

I don’t think I have ever said this, but the comedian who used to advertise for Jello Pudding Pops, Bill Cosby, is one of my favorites. Even his sitcom, “The Cosby Show” is one of my absolute favorite television shows of all time, which was number one for years. He also had another sitcom called “Cosby,” and the man brought us “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” which many claim to be a classic, even though I wasn’t around when it aired, and I haven’t seen it. I think I should check that one out. The best thing about his stand-ups are that they’re clean, family-friendly, and his story telling abilities are so great, that you’re just waiting for the punch-line, and when it comes, you don’t expect it, and the payoff is worth it. I actually had the privilege to see his standup a couple of years ago, and boy I can die happy now.

With his film career, I don’t see why critics seem to bash a handful of them. I have never hated any of the films I saw of his because he always is funny in everything that he does. Case in point, I’ll review one today. Let’s see, what would seem right for Halloween? I know, the 1990 comedy, “Ghost Dad.”

Cosby really does enjoy an out-of-sitcom experience in this movie, a kind look at single trans-parenthood in the atmosphere world. Small and sweet like a Casper cartoon, this Huxtable like comedy is a shadow too casual to be considered as spirited, but it does its audience what it promises, which is a nonviolent family enjoyment for everyone.

Depending on special effects and his usual hokey mugging, Cosby plays Elliott Hopper, a workaholic widower who doesn’t seem to find any time for his three children (Salim Grant, Brooke Fontaine and Kimberly Russell). About more or less 20 minutes in the movie, Hopper finds himself in a cab with a driver who is a Satan worshiper, played by Raynor Scheine. The cab driver is driving recklessly and falls off a bridge, which makes him a ghost. He’s on a solar plane with a ghost of a chance to make up for the time he didn’t have when he was alive.

Rita Kempley of the Washington Post said in her review, “Ectoplasm aside, Cosby's "Ghost Dad" has a lot in common with last summer's "Uncle Buck."” Directed by Sidney Poitier (who starred with Cosby in a comedy trilogy that I hope to review one day) and written by the same people who gave us “Short Circuit,” Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson, the story pays attention to a father’s nonfinancial tasks to his children. A serious idea explained in Cosby’s comedy style, it goes no deeper than a half-hour of pixilated fun. This isn’t a waste of time, not a complete bore, but does have a real enjoyment to it.

My advice to everyone is to give this movie a chance. There are some good effects in here, giving the time period, and there are moments, since this is a ghost movie, that will scare you. Stay tuned tomorrow to see what’s next in “Halloween Month.”